Overall, Mr. Brown shared five remarkable tips for a first-year teacher. Mr. Brown’s first teaching job was arguably one of the hardest jobs in the educational profession, as his students came from the Bronx borough of New York City. In the Bronx, there are approximately thirty percent of people living below the poverty line and that is almost twice the national average of fifteen percent (Bronx Borough QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau, 2014). As one might assume, there is a strong correlation between a student living in poverty and both misbehaving and having a lower academic performance (Jensen 2009). This correlation can be seen in Jensen’s book, Teaching with Poverty in Mind. Jensen says that Students living in poverty are more likely to misbehave, which that is what Mr. Brown had to deal with. I would assume that the behavioral issues Mr. Brown was referring to in his time at the school in the Bronx were associated with poverty. Poverty can also create higher stress, which therefore may cause students to not attend school on a regular basis and inhibits proper attention and concentration for school. Ultimately Mr. Brown got many of the hardest students in his first year of teaching and that could have played a major factor in him sinking in his first year. My high school was something special as it had a vast array of students coming from different income levels. Some student’s that were from Asia were truthfully millionaires, while on the other side of the income level we had rural students coming from Indian Township. While participating in my observation and even as a student, I have seen first hand just how hard it can be to teach some students. Many of the students that were difficult to teach came from Indian Township. There were always frequent interruptions and issues that arose, which had to be solved. Many of the students from Indian Township would show up only once or twice a week. A teacher going into a situation similar to Mr. Brown needs to know what they are facing. Many times a teaching job can be difficult to come by and the only openings are in areas where educators prefer not to teach. A first year teacher may have to take a job in one of these low socio-economic areas, so they need to know what they are getting themselves into.
I would recommend this article to all teacher candidates, being as there is a great deal of valuable information shared.
Marsh, C. (2010). Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, skills and issues. 5th Ed. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.
In many low income communities, there are teachers that are careless and provide their students with poor quality education. These teachers are there just to make sure that they keep receiving their monthly paychecks and act in this way because they believe that low income students do not have the drive, the passion, or the potential to be able to make something of themselves and one day be in a better place than they are now. Anyon reveals that in working class schools student’s “Work is often evaluated not according to whether it is right or wrong but according to whether the children followed the right steps.” (3). This is important because it demonstrates that low income students are being taught in a very basic way. These children are being negatively affected by this because if they are always being taught in this way then they will never be challenged academically, which can play a huge role in their futures. This argument can also be seen in other articles. In the New York Times
Wallis, Claudia. “How to Make Great Teachers.” Time Online. 13 Feb. 2008. Web. 16 March 2011.
In determining why The Great Gatsby is so frequently assigned at various education levels, my thoughts reverted to our discussion on the Vendler text and the premise that teachers may be attempting to seduce their students into learning. In connection to this discussion, I reflected on my own classroom and what I hope to achieve with my students. I find the "seduction" of students to be an integral component in teaching students to appreciate the learning process. Not all learning is "fun," but I attempt to teach my students that it can at least be an interesting process.
Marsh, C.J. (2010). Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, skills and issues. Frenchs Forest, Sydney, NSW: Pearson Australia
Reading, writing, math, science, and other skills learned in school are instrumental for a child to have in order to be successful both in higher education and in life. Many factors contribute to a student’s acquisition of these skills such as their learning environment, preschool education, mental and emotional development, parental involvement, and dedication to learning. The issue that many young children are facing, however, is that all of these factors can be greatly influenced by the Socioeconomic Status (SES) of their family. Unfortunately, up until recently it was virtually unknown how teachers could help these “at risk” children, which caused an increase in the likelihood of children dropping out of school or repeating a grade. However, it is now becoming clear that there are ways that educators can help ensure children have successful academic careers and lead better lives.
Fortunate was I, to grow up in a rural community where almost everybody was the same. I blended in, was like almost all others. I have always felt I received a good education that prepared me fairly well for college and later family life. However, I had no idea how others in the world lived. I grew up in a nice part of town, where everybody I knew was married, middle-class, went to either the “big Lutheran” or Catholic church in town, and the vast majority had occupations relating to agriculture. Fast forward, I’m now a junior high social studies and science teacher living in that same small town. Here, a few ideals guide my teaching practice. The first is to instill a quality work ethic in the students; the second, to teach them to do
One of the main issues in the educational system is the mindset of students, especially those in poverty. Students in poverty since the, “...beginning of the Progressive Era...” have had a tendency to not put forth effort in the classroom (Hood). Cultural trends throughout twentieth and twenty-first century America has developed different philosophies on how education should be treated. The overarching theme from all time periods in America is that students in poverty tend to be less happy, less excited about school, and less invested in the future that lies ahead for them because they have no hope and optimism. According to the International Journal for Behavioral Medicine, students who have a low “...socioeconomic status [view] the future as containing more negative [experiences] than positive [experiences]”. These students are considered the trouble makers o...
The fact that students from lower income families fail to perform as well in school holds no dispute. Growing up with less money has been proven to create a significant disadvantage. Those struggling to pay their bills often are forced to cut back the money spent on food, leaving kids with only the option of cheaper food with poor nutritional value, or sometimes skipping meals. This inhibits the brain from functioning at its best and can leave students more worried about their growling stomachs than their schoolwork (Ladd, Fiske). Low income students face other distractions from their schoolwork including home struggles like in the movie Freedom Writers. A teacher starts a job...
Several of the major reform initiatives of the 1980s and early 1990s argued that improving education requires improving teacher quality and, accordingly, teacher education. Numerous changes in teacher recruitment, preparation, and certification were proposed. (For a detailed list, see Hartley, Mantle-Bromley, and Cobb 1996.) In response to the calls for reform, general teacher education programs raised admission standards/exit requirements; revised curricula to reflect multiculturalism and new K-12 standards; paid more attention to pedagogy, teaching practice, and relevance; included clinical experiences in public schools and other learning environments; and proposed new model standards/principles for licensing beginning teachers (Lynch 1997).
In a society where kids must go to school up to the collegiate level, teaching is an impactful career choice. Teachers help contour the minds of future leaders of the world. Furthermore, teachers play a crucial role in guiding students to the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to succeed in life, and teachers lead students to make informed decisions on any topic the meet in the future. As a teacher, a person must relinquish their knowledge onto students. Finally, they must prepare their students for all the obstacles they will face later in life.
Marsh, C. (2008). Becoming a Teacher. (4th ed.). French Forest: Pearson Education. Retrieved from: http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_62128_1%26url%3d.
For the most part it is not the students fault as to why they are failing, but the teachers. In run down schools in poor towns, most teachers can only do so much with what they are given. In most cases it leads the teachers to just give up. In David K. Shipler’s The Working Poor: Invisible in America, Shipler states, “It had been a science class, and the teacher had given up and allowed a student who had brought a Nintendo game to plug it in” (Shipler 240). If the teacher ends up giving up or stops caring all together, the student will follow suit. In the student’s mind if the authority does not see it as important, why should they. It is important that the teachers, no matter the school, not give up on the students, for most it is the only the students have to look up to. According to Lyndsey Layton, writer for the Washington Post, just about 11 million children were living below the poverty level (Layton). For that amount of children to be living that low in life is unacceptable, but because of how education is in these areas where the children are living in are bad, they don’t have much hope for their future. Education is the only outlook these kids have for a better future and if that is corrupt or interfered with than there is a really good chance of them not being able to escape the poverty. Although there are millions of teachers that do strive to provide the best for his or her
I am a hard-working, confident and conscientious and have a keen desire to be a primary school teacher. The main reason I want to pursue this vocation is because I love the prospect of working with children, being such an important part of a child’s life is a real honour. I have been fascinated at how quickly they learn things, gaining an insight into their perceptions and how they see the world, the idea of playing an active role in helping them develop, greatly appeals me. Having a long term goal of working with children, I believe I am particularly suited to a degree in Primary/Physical education. I gain huge satisfaction from being able to help them learn and discover new things about the world. Nurturing a child’s development is an occupation that offers huge satisfaction, both intellectual and emotional. My ambition is to be in charge of a classroom, to introduce ideas and skills to the class and observe and feel their response. The teacher’s skills of good communication, patience, clarity and the ability to explain the world are very demanding of one’s intelligence and one’s p...
Negative behavior is often the initial sign of poverty’s influence. These are the students who often “act-out.” Lower income students also seem to be hardwired, impatient, angry and resentful. Inexperienced teachers often make the mistake of labeling and demeaning these students because the behavior is often perceived as inappropriate. Jensen (2009) explains that this behavior is learned from somewhere. This is perhaps the reason that schools located in poorer neighborhoods tend to be more difficult to staff. A high level of patience is necessary to be successful when dealing with these challenging